Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am certainly willing to have that conversation with the Member about where she thinks the gaps in services are and what kind of supports she thinks are needed and not currently provided, so I invite her to come and talk about that. Thank you.

I will have an offline conversation first.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services. I will take that as a comment. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I have a question for the Minister of Health and Social Services about wastewater testing. First off, I want to commend the Minister and the department for their leadership in doing the wastewater testing. I think it's a really good early warning system that we have in place here for the capital and the regional centres. Unfortunately, though, I have asked several times, and some constituents have raised with me the fact that there is no way of finding out about the results of this wastewater testing. Can the Minister tell me or tell the public about the status of some kind of public reporting of the wastewater testing results? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member said, wastewater surveillances helped us to detect cases in three communities, and so it has proved a very effective system. At this point, the samples are sent to the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, so there is some lag in getting test results back. It's our hope that we will be able to invest in the Taiga lab here in Yellowknife to examine those wastewater samples and provide more timely responses on them. That said, I am not aware that the dashboard has been set up or that it will be set up until that new system is in place. Thank you.

I want to thank the Minister for that. Look, as I said before, this is a great system, and I really do truly appreciate the work that has gone into setting it up. I'm just wondering, though, in the dashboard, could we have something like the presence or absence of COVID and whether the levels are constant, increasing, or decreasing, and the dates of the tests? Is that the kind of information that could be put on the dashboard when it's available?

I would have to inquire about the level of detail that is being contemplated for the dashboard. I think that we would want to have the dashboard launched with some public education about how to interpret the results so that the results don't create panic in communities that are being reported on. Certainly, I am willing to inquire about what the dashboard is going to look like.

Nothing further.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now, the Housing Corporation is in the process of constructing market housing units. That is an RCMP initiative. Presently we don't have any future public housing units to be allocated for the community of Hay River, but in result, we are working with the homelessness strategy in the community and looking at finding long-term solutions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Hay River is in dire need of housing for single families, for single people, for larger families. People have been on the waiting list for up to three years. We have to look, I guess, outside of the box on this and figure out how to get more housing in there. Is the Minister willing to consider talking to and using the private sector to build housing that could then be leased back or used for public housing?

I appreciate the Member's comment. Looking at this approach is different, and I would like to look at unique opportunities throughout the Northwest Territories. If we have an opportunity with private sector, I would like to take a look at that. Also, just looking at the City of Yellowknife, we do hold a number of leases already within the apartments that are established here. I would like to follow up with the Member. I am quite interested in that approach.

Right now we have a high-rise in Hay River with 122 apartments, and I am not sure if there is something that we can do to get that up and running. It would alleviate some of the housing concerns in Hay River and help out the Housing Corporation. Can the Minister confirm where we may be with making any head way working with the owner to get that operational again?

The Hay River high-rise is a collaborative approach throughout the government departments. Right now we do have an initiative that we have spoken with the management of the high-rise in looking at a possible co-investment fund application and how we are going to be working with that applicant to make sure that that application is successful.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have one question for the Premier and, if I get the answer that I am looking for, then I won't have any further questions. Would the Premier have the discussion with all of her Cabinet colleagues to ensure that their departments follow the Affirmative Action Policy this summer and every summer after for the GNWT summer student program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Honourable Premier.

Mr. Speaker, that is probably the easiest answer. We have been having those conversations at our table on a regular basis, so yes, I will absolutely commit to having that conversation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. No further questions. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of health. I have a number of constituents getting a hold of me, talking about the new extended care facility slated for Hay River. I would just like the Minister to provide an update of where we are at with that so I can report back to my constituents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Health and Social Services.